My Bishopric has asked whether we could install Microsoft Word and Excel to replace the standard OpenOffice which is pretty basic and lacks some of the capabilities that we would like. The recent online training discussed requesting this kind of a change but I don't remember whether specific procedures were discussed. Can anyone give me the procedure to follow?

papavon wrote:My Bishopric has asked whether we could install Microsoft Word and Excel to replace the standard OpenOffice which is pretty basic and lacks some of the capabilities that we would like. The recent online training discussed requesting this kind of a change but I don't remember whether specific procedures were discussed. Can anyone give me the procedure to follow?

First of all, the recommended free office suite is now LibreOffice (OpenOffice is not being updated like LibreOffice is).

As for Microsoft products, in that training, at about the 26:15 mark Brian Fromm begins a discussion of installing software. At about the 28:50 mark, he says that if you have these products installed, you can send in proof of purchase to mhifeedback@ldschurch.org. It sounds like they don't have this process completely worked out, but once you send that email, that will start a dialogue and you should be able to work things out.

Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.

papavon wrote:My Bishopric has asked whether we could install Microsoft Word and Excel to replace the standard OpenOffice which is pretty basic and lacks some of the capabilities that we would like. The recent online training discussed requesting this kind of a change but I don't remember whether specific procedures were discussed. Can anyone give me the procedure to follow?

Please see this page for your Microsft question https://tech.lds.org/wiki/Software (excerpt from link below)Office software Office software can enable a clerk to perform many useful tasks that are not available in Church-supplied software. Word processing and spreadsheet software is particularly helpful for clerks. The most commonly used applications are:

LibreOffice: LibreOffice is an office suite, consisting of a word processor and spreadsheet, along with other applications. It is a branch of the OpenOffice suite developed by The Document Foundation. It is compatible with all other major office suites. The product is free to download, use, and distribute. The Church recommends use of this suite, and provides a link to it on the MLS download site.

Microsoft Office: Because of cost, the Church does not recommend purchasing this software with budget funds. Open source office suites can perform all the essential functions of Microsoft Office.

Microsoft Works: For a time, the Church made a specially-licensed version of Microsoft Works available to units. This practice has been discontinued and the Church now recommends the use of open source office suites.

Additionally we are remotely pushing software updates to Clerk computers worldwide, these updates include operating system patches, Sophos and other standard applications. If you deviate from the established standards we will not be able to update or help manage the computer for you as easily.